James - Amazing cakes: recipes for the worlds most unusual, creative, and customizable cakes

Copyright 2013 by Instructables.com

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available on file.

ISBN: 978-1-62087-690-9

Printed in China

Disclaimer:

This book is intended to offer general guidance. It is sold with the understanding that every effort was made to provide the most current and accurate information. However, errors and omissions are still possible. Any use or misuse of the information contained herein is solely the responsibility of the user, and the author and publisher make no warrantees or claims as to the truth or validity of the information. The author and publisher shall have neither liability nor responsibility to any person or entity with respect to any loss or damage caused, or alleged to have been caused, directly or indirectly, by the information contained in this book. Furthermore, this book is not intended to give professional dietary, technical, or medical advice. Please refer to and follow any local laws when using any of the information contained herein, and act responsibly and safely at all times.

Table of Contents

Introduction

If youre looking to take your cake to the next to the next level with unusual shapes, alternating interior colors, surprise contents, or fun themes, youve come to the right place. These amazing cakes were created by members of the Instructables community, innovative amateurs tired of boring old sheet cakes or, God forbid, store-bought cakes.

These recipes contain step-by-step directions written by the very bakers themselves. The pictures you see are not doctored cake glamor shots. Nor are they fondant monstrosities made to look better than they taste. Instead, each cake was made with a purpose: to delight someone they love with a cake that looks and tastes good. The techniques and tools they use are all pretty ordinary, but the authors created something extraordinary with them.

Clearly this is not a comprehensive collection of all the wonderful cakes ever created. The hope is that youll be inspired to combine ideas to create the cake that you envision. This is just a starting point. It is up to you to adapt, modify, improve, and ultimately bake a cake that makes you and your loved ones happy.

DotatDabbled says it best in the introduction to her Dragon Cake, You dont have to be a professional to attempt something this cool!

All the projects in this book were first featured on Instructables.com. Instructables is the most popular project-sharing community on the Internet. We provide easy publishing tools to enable passionate, creative people like you to share their most innovative projects, recipes, skills, and ideas.

Instructables has more than 100,000 projects covering all subjects, including crafts, art, electronics, kids, home improvement, pets, outdoors, reuse, bikes, cars, robotics, food, decorating, woodworking, costuming, games, and more. Check it out today!

* Special thanks to Instructables Interactive Designer Gary Lu for the Instructables Robot illustrations!

Section 1

Animals

Monkey Brain Cake

By Linda Vandermeer
(BubbleandSweet)

(http://www.instructables.com/id/Monkey-Brain-Cake/)

Eeeek! Chilled monkey brains anyone? Well, if the brains are Jell-O and they are served with a slice of chocolate cake, maybe you wont pass up this treatmade famous in the movies but made slightly more appetizing in this Instructable. This would make an awesome Halloween dessert and would be an especially gruesome table centerpiece.

The preparation for this cake is best spread over three days:

Day 1: bake the cake and make the ganache

Day 2: remaining Steps 1 through 7

Day 3: just prior to serving Step 8

The whole cake does take a bit of work, but if you like you can omit some steps, which will not only save time but will also reduce the equipment and ingredients required, making the cake a little bit more economical. If you like, you can omit the hand painting and just add some extra black fondant in the nostrils. Also, the addition of the Persian fairy floss in Step 8 is completely optional. Or you can just skip straight to Step 7 and make up some brains to serve with raspberry sauce for an easy yet scrumptiously scary treat.

Ingredients and Equipment

2 chocolate cakes (mine were chocolate mud and 8 3.25)

Cake board (approx 8)

Ganache (chocolate and cream)

White ready-rolled fondant or Pettince, 20 oz or 600 grams

Black ready-rolled fondant or Pettince, 50 grams or 1.75 oz (or color your own from the white using black gel food color)

Black, white, and ivory gel food color

Tylose powder

Small brush

Edible glaze, black dusting powder, and large brush

Large rolling pin

Small sharp knife

Small fondant rolling pin

Cake decorating flower/leaf tool

Cake smoothers (kind of optional)

Brain mold

2 packs jelly crystals (I used raspberry and grape)

Evaporated low-fat milk (carnation non fat)

Powdered gelatin

Oil spray

Raspberry sauce (or strawberry)

Optional white Persian fairy floss and scissors

Step 1: Stack the Cake

To make ganache, heat 400 grams of cream until boiling and add to 800 grams of finely chopped milk chocolate. Allow to rest for a couple of minutes and then whisk until smooth. Allow the ganache to set at room temperature overnight.

Cut the tops off each cake to make them even, and then cut each cake in half so you have four even cakes. Place one cake slice on top of a cake board, add a good dollop of ganache, and spread it around evenly. Place another layer of cake on top, then more ganache, then another layer of cake. Repeat until you have four layers of cake with a layer of ganache between each layer. Cover with a layer of plastic wrap, place it in the fridge, and chill until firm.

Note: I placed a piece of parchment paper between the cake and the cake board so I could slip the carved cake directly onto the cake stand prior to Step 4. This was purely for my presentation. Do not do this if you are serving directly from the cake board, as the parchment paper makes the cake slide around.